There are a couple of events at Kirkcudbright Book Week that will appeal to crime fiction enthusiasts.
Monday February 27 Walk on the Dark Side – crime fiction event Broughton House, 12 High St. 7. 30pm £7 Spend an evening with crime writers Jackie Baldwin, Ian Robinson, Ann Bloxwich and John Dean as they explore the art of crime writing, illustrated through examples from their crime novels.
Having spent twenty-seven years in the Metropolitan Police, Ian is now a full-time writer. Six of his crime novels have been published and Rubicon is currently in development with the BBC for a six-part TV series.
Jackie Baldwin sets much of her work in Dumfries and Galloway and was a solicitor in Dumfries for twenty years. Her debut crime novel, Dead Man’s Prayer, was published by Killer Reads, Harper Collins in 2016. The second in the series, Perfect Dead, was published in 2018 with the third, Avenge the Dead, having also been published.
Ann Bloxwich recently announced that she has signed a deal with a new publisher. Her contract with Red Dragon Publishing Ltd means that her debut crime novel What Goes Around will not be available until its relaunch with a new cover and ISBN number in March 2023, at the same time as her second book, Goodnight, God Bless.
What Goes Around is the first book in the DI Alex Peachey series and Ann drew on her own experiences, including that of being a parent to a disabled child. She said: “This is something I’ve not seen in fiction before, and I felt it brought an air of authenticity to Alex’s story and shows the unseen side of living with this situation. I set it in and around Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, as that was where I was living when I started the book.”
John Dean is the creator of the DCI John Blizzard and Jack Harris series of novels published by The Book Folks of London
Tuesday February 28 Free on-line event Talking Of Crime…2pm
Tuesday February 28 Free on-line event Talking Of Crime…2pm
A Zoom event featuring crime writers from around Scotland, who will take readers on a tour of the country with each author explaining what effect the Scottish location of their books offers them as writers. Audience members will then be able to ask questions. Writers taking part include members of the Crime Writers’ Association’s Scottish Chapter and those contributing include Allan Martin, Simpson Grears, Inga Vesper, Margaret Kirk, Gordon Brown, John Dean and Marsali Taylor. To register for the Zoom session, please contact John at deangriss@btinternet.com
How to acquire your tickets
Tickets for both paid-for and a number of the free events during Kirkcudbright Book Week 2023 can be booked by visiting http://www.eventbrite.co.uk and searching for Kirkcudbright Book Week Collection where all the events are listed. Alternatively, a direct link can be accessed via the book week website’s Acquire Your Tickets section at https://www.kirkcudbrightbookweek.org/buy-your-tickets/
Kirkcudbright Book Week 